Hearts Of Ice
by shadrougeforever
Summary: Zena always had a strong crush on Appex since the beginning, but will he ever return his love for her? Read! COMPLETE


Later that night in an old abandoned house, Maxcell and Lance were sitting at a small and a not so sturdy table playing chess.

Maxcell smiled as he looked back up Lance after making his move. "Checkmate, boss."

The fox placed his hands on his head and scratched it with frustration, "Why the hell does this keep happening? You've been kicking my ass ever since we started playing!"

The chipmunk only shrugged.

He sighed, "This sucks! Why couldn't Nack give me the ability to be kick ass at this shitty game?"

"I guess that's just one mystery we'll never find the answer too", he said in a shy voice.

They were then startled when Appex stomped downstairs and quickly went out the door without saying a word.

"Wonder what's wrong with Appex tonight", Maxcell thought.

Lance crossed his arms and sighed, "The usual probably."

"What usual?"

Then they both heard Zena shouting his name while she came downstairs, "Appex, wait!"

Maxcell now knew what Lance was talking about. "Oh...that usual."

Once Zena was in the living room along with them, she quickly ran up to them. "Did Appex just leave?"

Maxcell made a nod, "Yeah and judging by his attitude, he was pretty pissed off."

She placed her hand over her mouth and gasped, "Oh no! I have to find him!" Before she could go anywhere, Lance had grabbed her wrist.

"Where do you think you're going, princess?"

She jerked her wrist from his grip, "I'm going to find Appex."

The gray fox sighed, "Don't you ever learn? Stupid girl! Don't you know that if you get on Appex's nerves just enough, you'll be the one in emotional pain instead of him? Well...if he's ultra pissed then you'll also be in physical pain as well."

"I don't care! I want to see him now, Lance!"

He rose an eyebrow and shrugged, "Fine. Go on and get hurt again."

She gave him a cold look before turning away and running out the door to find Appex.

When she left, Maxcell faced Lance with worry. "Why do I have a feeling that something bad will happen to her?"

He sighed, "She'll never learn. She's just way too obsessed with that guy for some reason."

Meanwhile, Appex was standing on top of a building with his arms crossed staring at the bight moon while a gentle breeze traveled the night air.

"Appex!"

He heavily sighed and looked behind him, seeing a green squirrel approaching and smiling at him happily. He gave her a cold look as she confronted him.

"Oh, there you are, Appex. You move pretty fast. Almost as fast as Shadow."

He looked away from her and back at the moon, "What do you want? I told you to leave me alone. Are you trying to piss me off or what?"

She shook her head slowly, "No Appex, it's not that."

"Then what, Zena? What do you want from me?"

She hesitated to answer for a few seconds because of his frustration with her. "Appex", she spoke. "Do you...hate me?"

He sighed, turned away from the moon and looked back at her. "You really want to know what I think of you?"

She made a small nod and clenched her fists, hoping that what he thought of her would be something positive.

"Zena, you're nothing to me but an annoyance."

She made a small gasp and was shocked to hear what he just said.

"I don't like you and I don't need you following me around trying to get me like you. What the hell is wrong with you anyway? Why do you have this pointless crush on me?"

She tried to answer him in a strong and firm voice, but she was too hurt to even do that. "D-do you remember the first time we meet?"

He crossed his arms, "Of course I do."

_While the dark night was filled with hard and cold rain, a little green squirrel child was running through the empty streets with two other men following her. She looked back at them with panic, "Please leave me alone!"_

_The two men kept chasing her with chains and metal pipes in their hands._

_The child ran into a dark alley and kept running until she met a dead end. She leaned against the wall with her back and stared at the two men walking up to her slowly._

"_Where do you think you're going, little girl?"_

"_Don't you know it's dangerous to be running around here at night?"_

_The girl fell to the wet ground crying, "Please don't hurt me!" She screamed and shut her eyes tightly, hoping they wouldn't touch her. She waited for a few seconds until she noticed no harm came to her yet. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the two men scattered apart from each other with their backs against the wall. She studied their bodies and saw some kind of needles sticking out of their flesh. She looked away from them and in front of her, she saw a young red porcupine staring back at her coldly. She then saw him approaching her. She had no idea what to do. She was so scared, she didn't have the nerve to move._

_The porcupine stood in front of her and held his hand out to her. "You're alone in this world right? If you come with me, you won't be alone anymore...I promise."_

_She stared in his yellow eyes deeply. She could tell something about him was special and she wanted to find out what so she took his hand._

"Appex, you saved me and I owe you my life for it. I...felt something between us that night and I could tell...you could feel it too. I saw it in your eyes."

He breathed heavily, "You're wrong. Lance wanted me to save you. I didn't just do it all on my own. Besides, saving people other than yourself is pointless."

"Appex...", she said full of shock. "Why are you so...heartless?"

He gritted his teeth, "Because you haven't lived a tough childhood like I have! Doing your absolute best trying to fit in with everyone else when you have cursed quills that has a mind of their own!"

She shook her head slowly, "No...", she whispered.

"And to make my life a complete living Hell, my parents had lied to me about how much they loved and cared for me. My whole life was meaningless and I had no purpose to live on...until I met Lance anyway. He was the only one who gave a damn about me. Artificial Life Form or not, I still believe he has a heart because he's so nice to me." He stared into Zena's blue eyes, "And from that day I met him, I swore to myself to never be open to others except him."

The squirrel hesitated to ask, "But...why?"

"Because I put all my complete trust into him."

She looked down to the ground in sadness. "All right Appex, I think I understand now, but I just want you to know even if you don't return your love to me, it's okay because...I'll never stop caring about you."

The porcupine's eyes widened, surprised by what she had just said to him. He clenched his fists while he walked up to her.

She flinched as he quickly grabbed her wrist tightly. She was frightened because she had no idea what he was planning to do to her. He just might hurt her again unexpectedly with his quills.

"You're a fool, Zena. Loving someone who doesn't wish to return their love."

She winced because his grip was getting tighter. "But Appex, you still saved me that night and I owe you the thing you desire."

"Really? And what is that?"

"The desire...of not being alone. To belong."

His grip had eased but he didn't let go of her. "You...care that much for a freak like me?"

She made a small nod.

He took his hand away from her wrist and placed it on her arm, "You actually want me to be happy."

"Of course I do. More than anything else in the world."

He sighed heavily and released his grip from her, "Fine, but we're nothing more than friends. Got it?"

A smile had formed on her lips. "Appex, we're...friends? You really mean that?"

"Yeah just friends."

With happiness, Zena hugged him tightly. "I finally have a place in your heart after all."

The porcupine just stood there frozen with a slight blush on his face. No girl has ever gotten this close to him before and it was a weird feeling.

"Thank you, Appex. Thank you so much."

He made a small smile, "Just get off me...stupid girl."

She took her body away from his and smiled at him until she saw him walking away from her. "Where are you going, Appex? You're not going to spend anytime with your friend?"

He faced her and looked away from her while he continued to walk. "I'm going to get some sleep."

She sighed with frustration. She hated it when he just walked away from her when they started to get closer. Before she could say anything back to him, he was already gone. She smiled because she was still happy about what had formed between them. He had finally put a little trust into her and that was a huge accomplishment for her. They were officially friends and to her, it was just another step closer to him admitting his true feelings for her. "Good night, Appex", she whispered.

**A/N: Well that's done. Yay! Now I'll start on Artificial Life Forms Have Feelings Too. Oh R&R please!**


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